Vira sighed.

She was currently sitting on the academy’s rooftop, overseeing the battles on the ground.

Her gaze was focused on Roroan and Lonotta.

"Maybe I should have forced her to join me instead of killing her..." she regretted, sounding apathetic.

Vira was thinking about Dugea, the demon who governed over and created the Unnatural Dungeon. Her ability allowed her to store anything she wanted in marbles and summon those things whenever she wanted. It was with that ability that she created that dungeon.

The Unnatural Dungeon started out as a small cave but Dugea turned it into a multi-floored dungeon by digging underneath the cave. She would then use her ability to summon multiple floors underneath the cave where she would then use different kinds of marbles on each floor, giving birth to the dungeon which was widely known by people as the Unnatural Dungeon which defied any logic.

"Even though she spent her time doing such childish things, she was nonetheless an A-rank demon." Vira muttered, heaving another sigh of disappointment.

In Vira’s personal army were both humans and demons. She managed to win over the entire North to her side and looked around for demons in Grat. Overall, she commanded roughly 6 demons who were all B-ranks. However, only two were able to arrive in Youra in time. Three demons were still scattered across Grat, whereas the last one was actually subjugated not too long ago.

Now, Vira was slightly irritated that only two demons were in Youra.

And one of those two was about to get in huge trouble.

"Are you done talking? Let’s get this over with." Belian said.

"..."

Roroan had a carefree attitude since the start of the North’s ambush, however, Belian managed to make him turn serious.

"You sure are cocky for a human." he stated with a now more threatening tone.

Lonotta slowly descended with her gaze glued to Belian and Roroan.

Ophelia, too, watched those two with her arms crossed, showing no signs of interfering.

"Let me tell you this, brat. I have a trashy demonic gift as I can only use it to summon a sword in my hand. So how did I become a B-rank demon?" Roroan said.

A black sword appeared in his hand just like he described.

"It’s not because of my strength nor did my sword have a special ability... It’s purely because of my swordsmanship!" he boasted, grinning eerily.

Belian appeared uninterested.

"It seems like this is a mismatch for you." Belian stated, pulling out his sword.

"...?"

In contrast to Roroan, who was unfazed, Lonotta had some suspicions concerning Belian’s relic.

"A mismatch for me? How long do you plan on joking around?" Roroan huffed as he took up his stance, holding his sword in front of him like a knight.

"In my whole life, I’ve never lost a swor-"

Lonotta widened her eyes, which reflected blood getting splattered in the air.

The sound of flesh sizzling drowned out the dull sound of Roroan’s head falling on the ground.

Roroan’s body fell to his knees and shortly afterward collapsed, creating a bloody puddle beneath the motionless body.

"R-Roroan!" Lonotta screamed.

It happened in a flash.

Before Roroan could even finish his last words, Belian did not hesitate and cut his head off his shoulders with one single sword strike. And thanks to his relic melting through everything it touched, Roroan’s head was cleanly cut like butter even though it would take a lot more than that to kill him if it was instead a normal sword.

During that process, Roroan’s sword, in which he took his pride, was also destroyed as a byproduct.

"..."

Those, who were standing near enough to see that confrontation, were frozen in shock. It did not matter if it was someone from the North or someone from the academy of Youra, they were simply flabbergasted by Belian.

Regardless of the favors shifting, they could not comprehend how a student could kill a B-rank demon so effortlessly. Even the higher-ranking people, like Brol and Arnold, turned to his way for a second.

"I assume that you won’t need my help so I will go and join the others, Ms. Ross." Belian stated as if nothing happened before he left.

"Sure, leave her to me." Ophelia replied confidently, moving towards Lonotta who was still stunned by the sudden and pathetic death of her comrade.

Lonotta palmed her face and let out a heavy sigh.

"I should have realized sooner..."

Roroan was never the studious type as he only cared about his sword training. Thus, he knew little about most things, including the currently existing relics in the human realm.

Compared to him, Lonotta at least learned the basics and memorized the relics roughly, making her recognize Belian’s relic, albeit too late.

"Ah, whatever! There’s no point thinking about these things!" Lonotta lamented, ruffling her hair wildly.

Then, she pointed at Ophelia with her finger.

"First, I will deal with you!" she declared vigorously.

However, she then turned her head to a few northern soldiers.

"I won’t make the same mistake as Roroan and underestimate you." she added, signaling the soldiers to come to her with her hand.

"I can’t shake off the weird feeling I have so I have no choice but to get serious from the start."

"..."

Ophelia equipped herself with her gauntlets and took up her fighting stance.

While the soldiers hurried over to Lonotta, she took a quick glance at Ophelia’s relic.

"No... It’s not because of those..." she muttered pensively, facing the soldiers again.

In front of her, three soldiers lined up.

"H-how can we help you...?"

"Be quiet." Lonotta commanded sharply.

Slowly, she raised her hand.

"?"

Ophelia was confused but decided to watch from the sidelines as she still did not have a grasp on Lonotta’s ability yet.

"Die for me."

Following that, Lonotta beheaded the three men with one horizontal chop.

Dark smoke emerged from the three corpses and was apparently absorbed by Lonotta.

"What’s going on...?"

Ophelia was even more confused.

Then, the dark smoke vanished.

"Not bad but not what I hoped for." Lonotta commented slightly disappointed.

Ignoring Ophelia’s stare, she jumped over to the mass of people.

"H-hey!" Ophelia shouted after her, seeing how Lonotta ran away from her.

Having arrived in the midst of the battlefield, where students, teachers and soldiers gathered, she caused quite the commotion among foes and allies.

And before anyone near her could utter a word, Lonotta mercilessly slaughtered everyone in her sight without hesitation.

It was only until Ophelia interfered that she would stop.

"Are you crazy?!"

Ophelia attempted to throw a fist but Lonotta caught her fist without even looking at her.

At that point, she already killed about 14 people in total. And just like the previous three corpses, from the new corpses dark smoke emitted and was absorbed by Lonotta.

"Hrngh...!" Ophelia groaned silently as she sensed the grip on her wrist tightening.

"Well, this is what I have to do."

"?"

"This is my demonic gift."

Lonotta pulled Ophelia to her, let go of her wrist and instead grabbed her neck, slamming her to the ground brutally.

"Gah...!"

Still holding onto her, Lonotta raised Ophelia up and threw her away as if she weighed nothing.

Ophelia crashed inside the academy’s main building.

"Ups... Vira will be angry at me..." Lonotta remarked wryly.

Leaving the stunned people behind, she flew over to the academy.

When she arrived there, she searched for Ophelia but she was not under the rubble which was caused due to Ophelia crashing through the walls.

"..."

Then, Ophelia appeared behind her, launching a punch but Lonotta was not surprised and dodged the attack effortlessly.

"Tch!"

Using her other hand, Ophelia tried to hit her again and like the previous attempt it did not connect as Lonotta countered with her own fist, pushing Ophelia back.

"My ability allows me to grow stronger for a certain amount of time depending on the number and quality of people I’ve killed. And considering how many I’ve just killed I guess... I’m about as strong as a demon who’s barely an A-rank?" Lonotta pondered.

"..."

Based on the pressure she was emitting now, Ophelia already realized that Lonotta was growing.

Ophelia was gritting her teeth but soon after, she had a smirk on her nervous face.

"You’re not the only one who can get stronger." she stated as she loosened up her body.

"Hm?"

Lonotta’s eyes sharpened the moment the air around Ophelia changed.

Ophelia took deep breaths.

"I don’t know to what I should compare myself but I assume that I can at least take on someone like you." Ophelia declared confidently.

Her expression slowly turned more calm and blank.

Ophelia took one step.

"!"

To Lonotta it seemed like Ophelia vanished for a moment, however, it was just that Ophelia was too fast for her to realize.

"Damn-"

In an attempt to dodge her incoming punch, Lonotta stumbled on her feet and fell on her butt.

That was, however, in her favor as she managed to evade the attack.

And yet, she sensed the pure impact from the punch she would have received just by the vibration of the air.

"A-are you kidding...?" she stuttered with a broken smile.

Lonotta realized that one serious punch of Ophelia could be fatal for her.